Police in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) arrested and then released four Christians, Mr. Sonu Kumar, Mr. Rakesh Maurya, Mr. Satnam and Mr. Shribaghwan, on charges of forced conversions. They were detained in Kasimaba village of Ghazipur district in UP. Mr. Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), denounced "the detention". He said, though the incident occurred a few days ago, it came to light only today......

15 to 20 people barged into the New Life Church in Kowad village and attacked about 40 people who were offering prayers on Sunday afternoon. The attackers were carrying knives, empty beer bottles, swords and iron rods. More than 10 people were injured in the attack. One of the victims named Tanaji Patil said that the attackers also vandalized vehicles in the village. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik said, "The cops are claiming the involvement of (Hindu) right wing."....

A pastor in India said a mob of 300 Hindu extremists terrorized Christian children and threatened to beat them for attending a Sunday school class he was leading. Pastor Selva Raj of Amathur village in India’s Tamil Nadu state told Morning Star News that the attack happened on Nov. 11. The mob of 300 or so radicals destroyed a shed near the worship building before descending upon children in a Sunday school class.
“They took away the Bible storybooks and some....

Christians can heave sighs of relief as the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP has been thrown out of power in three key states in central India that have reported dozens of incidents of anti-Christian violence and harassment.
The BJP, which had enjoyed unstinted power in two of the states – Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – for 15 years, winning three consecutive elections in both, was unseated when  .....

A Hindu extremist strategy for stopping the spread of Christianity by targeting pastors – and their families – was painfully evident in a recent attack on a Christmas planning meeting in northern India.
As has become routine in India, police arrested badly beaten Christians and charged them with causing religious enmity, sources said.
Pastors from 12 churches in Agra, Uttar Pradesh state and from 10 churches in nearby Mathura were meeting, along with their .....

Christian leaders suspect that the BJP was responsible for the elimination of the names of many Christians from electoral lists in Madhya Pradesh. Hundreds of Christians in India’s Madhya Pradesh state found their names missing from the lists of voters in elections for the State Assembly on 28 November, AsiaNews reports. One of them was the Bishop of Bhopal, Leo Cornelio, who told AsiaNews that after waiting at the ......